


No, You

by CaedHarlowe



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, reverse!verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-22
Updated: 2015-10-22
Packaged: 2018-04-27 14:02:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5051245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaedHarlowe/pseuds/CaedHarlowe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chloe spins around and stares at Nathan. That douchebag dares to come back after what he did? She glances over her shoulder, at— at nothing. No Max, no overturned trolley. She laughs a little, hears a note of hysteria in the sound.</p><p>“Are you fucking high?” Nathan demands. “What the hell do you want?”</p><p>Chloe laughs again, confident this time. She saunters over to Nathan and leans over him, baring her teeth. “I want your money.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	No, You

Max Caulfield clings to the partition as she leans around to watch, fixated on the grim tableau. Nathan Prescott presses a gun to the girl’s stomach and shouts above her entreaties. God, she’s stuck in the middle of some high-school drug-peddling racket and somebody could get shot. She could get shot.

Torn over whether to hide or intervene, and wondering if she could fit through one of the tiny windows, Max is jerked back to reality when the girl shoves Nathan.

_Bang!_

The gunshot echoes in the tiny room. Nathan stumbles back from the girl as she falls. Blood is already soaking her shirt, and the gun clatters to the floor as Nathan lets it slip from his hand.

“ _No!_ ” Max reaches out, willing the girl to get up. If she could only undo this and distract Nathan, nobody would have to die. A stupid thought, but still. Max reaches.

Her head spins, and she staggers, hands reaching for the wall as she crouches down. She buries her face in her hands to drown out the flickering images in her mind. When the nausea passes and she looks up, Nathan is leaning against the basin, the girl shoving into his space and demanding money.

_What._

~

Chloe Price just wants money, just wants to pay off Frank, just wants to find Rachel and leave Shitcadia Bay. Where the fuck had Nathan gotten a gun from? She raises her hands, talks quick and low, her words running together as he jabs the gun into her gut and mouths off. Asshole like him, all talk. He hasn’t got the guts. He wouldn’t. Not inside the school.

There’s a clatter as a trolley tumbles out from the janitor’s nook, spilling chemicals across the floor. Somebody falls with it - stupid, _stupid_ , not checking there - and Nathan turns. Chloe has a moment of relief before he swings the gun up, already skittering towards the door as he fires. The stranger cries out and stares at them, hands clasped over her side.

Not a stranger.

_Max._

Maxine Caulfield, returned to Arcadia Bay.

Huh. Chloe’s nails dig into her palms as she clenches her hands. She doesn’t notice Nathan sprint out into the hallway, gun thrown to the bathroom floor.

“Chloe.” Max breathes, “It’s good to see you again.”

Chloe looks away from Max’s agonised smile. “You call this good, Caulfield?’

“He didn’t shoot you.” Chloe has to walk forwards to hear her. Blood seeps from between Max’s fingers, and Chloe crouches down to press her own hand over Max’s.

“Can you hold on? The hospital’s not far, they’ll be here before you know it.” Chloe’s voice shakes as she fishes through her pockets, looking for her phone. Max wraps a blood-sticky hand around her wrist.

“Don’t.”

“Come _on_ , Max—”

“I’m glad I could see you again. I missed you.”

Chloe huffs and sits back on her heels. “So, what, you’re just going to die?”

“Probably.” Max nods, her eyes unfocused.

“Sorry you got caught up in all this.” Chloe looks down at her hand, the one held in Max’s- in Max’s death grip.

If she had only known Max was there, she could have kept her safe. Could have distracted Nathan from Max’s blunder. Could have—

“See you ‘round, Chloe.” Max’s words are almost too faint to make out.

Chloe closes her eyes. “See you ‘round, Max.” Max’s hand slips from around hers, and Chloe tastes bile in the back of her throat. Fuck, she should have taken that bullet. If there was one thing she could do over…

Her head pounds as she stands up. She has to tell somebody. This is so fucked up.

“I’ve got nothing for you.”

Chloe spins around and stares at Nathan. That douchebag dares to come back after what he did? She glances over her shoulder, at— at nothing. No Max, no overturned trolley. She laughs a little, hears a note of hysteria in the sound.

“Are you fucking high?” Nathan demands. “What the hell do you want?”

Chloe laughs again, confident this time. She saunters over to Nathan and leans over him, baring her teeth. “I want your money.”

~

It happens exactly like before, the girl threatening, Nathan rounding on her, gun drawn. Max stares around herself for something, anything to defuse the situation. The glint of an intact fire alarm catches her eye. She steps to it, head turned to keep track of the conversation. It isn’t hard. The girl is shouting, taunting Nathan. Max almost swears aloud when her hands scrabble for a hammer that isn’t there. Her heart races as she spots a pair of bolt cutters under the trolley. Perfect. She pushes at the trolley, digs her shoulder in and shoves. The wheels are old and locked up and she does swear aloud as the entire contraption lists sideways. Her hands catch in the shelving and she’s pulled along as it hits the ground with a bang that drowns out Nathan’s gun. His eyes are wide in his bone-pale face as he stares between her and the girl, bloody on the ground.

“Don’t you dare fucking tell anybody.” He points the gun at her for emphasis, then skirts around the girl and disappears out the door. Shaken up by the fall, it takes Max a moment to regain her balance. In that moment, she notices the girl, really notices her, and she’s knocked about all over again because it’s _Chloe_.

“Oh, Chloe, _no_. No, no, not you.” Max frees her hands and stands on shaky legs. She wants to walk forward, to make sure it’s really her. Instead, she backs up, hands raised against the sight.

Her chest heaves as she fights for breath. She shoves her hand out, tensing her muscles and trying to remember what she did before. Wanting. She wanted to rewind time. And how she wants, all the more for failing again, all the more for Chloe.

Max ducks behind the partition as she sees Chloe rise up and walk backwards until she’s edging out the door. Nathan reappears, antsy and desperate.

She shoves her hand down with a gasp and time resumes. She has to draw Nathan’s attention from Chloe. She cannot watch that again.

~

Words come easy after her decision. Chloe flings everything she has at Nathan, every little speck of dirt she knows. Some of the words cut her, too, but what is that to the bullet that will soon follow? She steps into his space, forcing him back, bold and brash as she’s ever been. Devoted to Max as she’s ever been.

She hates herself, just a little, for admitting it.

Chloe doesn’t watch, doesn’t want Nathan catching on. So she’s unprepared when Max steps out on her own two feet.

“”Hey! Leave her alone, you prick!” Nathan is already on edge, only a moment from shooting. A moment’s all he needs to turn the gun on Max.

Chloe screams, maybe noise, maybe curses, she doesn’t care. She shoves Nathan as hard as she can, clenches her fist, and _pulls_ everything back to before Max stepped out. She’ll be ready.

~

Max doesn’t have to wait long. She lets Chloe build up a head of steam, then reveals herself. She hopes being shot is like how it is in the moves; numb, she bleeding out too quickly to feel any pain. She hopes Chloe survives.

“Hey! Leave her alone, you prick!”

Nathan notices her. Chloe notices her - recognises her? - too. She grabs the gun, wrenches it away from Max, towards herself.

“Oh no,” Max mutters, “not this time.”

She’s reaching out even before Nathan fires. Rewinds. Only long enough to undo her shout. Her head starts to pound.

~

Chloe is expecting Max to be noisy, to stand back and draw attention to herself. She’s not expecting her to dive for Nathan, barreling into him and bearing them both to the ground.

Chloe steps back to avoid flailing arms as Max and Nathan wrestle for the gun. Max has surprise on her side. Nathan has the gun on his.

_Bang!_

Chloe pulls time back, mind spinning around solutions. She needs something guaranteed to work. If Max stops being so goddamn _unpredictable_ , she might stand a chance.

~

Chloe bowls Max over as she steps out from the alcove.

“Chloe, what the hell?” She gasps.

Nathan fires. “Fuck, oh fuck!” Chloe convulses as the bullet hits her.

“Damn it, Max.” Chloe groans and slips sideways. Max gets a glance of oh-so-red and pulls her hands from under Chloe’s weight, raises her palm. Climbs to her feet and backs up, tensing to move as soon as Nathan notices her.

~

Chloe sees Max call out to Nathan and throw herself to the ground. The gun. Of course. They might both make it out of this. Nathan’s shot goes wild, hits one of the algaed mirrors. Ricochets off and clips Max in the shoulder. Max screams and reaches for the bullet would while Nathan  stares at the gun like he’s never heard the word before.

Objectively, Chloe is impressed by the dumb luck necessary to pull off a shot like that. Subjectively, her mind screams as she clenches her fist and _pulls_. She dreads the nightmares she will have tonight.

They need help.

~

Chloe drops the argument. Max, leaning against the wall, risks a glance around the corner. Nathan seems as baffled as she is. He’s got the gun pointed at her, but his grip is loose, his finger off the trigger. Chloe sees it too, gives him a brief wave, and reaches behind herself to haul the door open. It’s only open an inch or two when Nathan pistol-whips her. She drops like a stone, and Max gasps at the suddenness of it.

Max shouldn't find this funny, especially with the barrel of a gun pointed directly at her chest. She laughs anyway.

“You’re a bastard, Nathan Prescott.” She raises her hand and rewinds. He’s facing Chloe again, close enough to strike her.

~

Chloe stares Nathan down, daring him to make the first move. She only needs enough time to get the door open and call for security. For once, she’s glad her step-douche is so attuned to conflict. She needs to scare Nathan before he fires. Again.

Max creeps up behind Nathan. She’s making a range of indecipherable faces at Chloe. Chloe tries to shrug at her without giving away Max’s position.

Max rolls her eyes and raises her fist. She probably intends to look menacing, but she seems more triumphant than anything. Not such an inappropriate response to punching Nathan Prescott, all things considered.

Max nods at her, and Chloe pulls the door open.

“Security!”

Max grabs Nathan’s shoulder and drags him around and off balance. It doesn’t take much force for her to knock him off his feet, or to kick the gun from his hand.

David is at the door a moment later, glowering at Chloe.

“What the hell are you doing at Blackwell, Chloe?”

“Your job,” she snaps. She gestures at Nathan and his gun. “This asshole tried to shoot Max!”

David looks at Max. “Is that true, young lady?”

Max swallows. “Well, he tried to shoot Chloe first. I was just in the right place at the right time, I guess.”

Chloe snorts. _Right time_. She was the one who made that time right.

David surveys the room’s three occupants, then steps in to grab the gun. Through the open door, Chloe can see a crowd gathering, and teachers ushering them backwards. They’d have a better chance of grasping sand than keeping bored students away. He hauls Nathan up with one hand and scoops up the gun with the other. With a nod to Max and a suspicious glare to Chloe, he pulls Nathan out the door.

Chloe looks at Max. “Nice punch.”

“Tell that to my hand.” Max holds it up to show off bloodied knuckles. Chloe whistles in appreciation and grabs her hand to fiddle with her fingers. Max yelps and pulls it back.

“Shit. Have you ever even punched someone before? You could have broken a bone.”

Max shakes her hand out and runs her fingers over her knuckles. “I think it’s just bruised.”

They lapse into silence until Ms. Grant arrives and ushers them out into the main campus.

Outside, Ms. Grant keeps an eye on them while they wait for the police to finish speaking with Nathan.

Max scuffs her feet in the dirt, opens her mouth like she’s going to say something. Does it a few times, actually. Chloe guessed it was up to her to break the ice.

“That was one wild fucking ride, Mad Max.”

Max grins at her, and God has Chloe missed her.

“It is _so_ good to see you again, Chloe.”

~

Max leans against one tree for a moment, kicks off and paces in front of Chloe. Flops down to run her fingers through the grass so she has something real to touch. Gets up and presses her hands - injured and whole together - against the rough bark and examines them. She peers at her skin, not sure what she expects to see. Some sucking, swirling, black hole of time, maybe. Her knuckles are swollen and already turning interesting colours. Holding a pen is going to be a bitch.

She travelled through time. She’s a _time traveller_. What. The. Fuck.

Next to her, Chloe gazes at the school, arms crossed and brow furrowed.

“You’re not worried about Nathan, are you?”

“Hell no. Are you?”

“His family seems pretty important. And rich.”

Chloe shrugs. “Forget about him. He’s finished. You wanna talk about what happened back there?”

“No, I’m… I’m fine. Not while it’s so fresh.” How would she even go about it? _Turns out I can travel through time and I saved your ass a half dozen times in thirty seconds._ Nice one, Max, that’ll go over great. No, she’ll leave that one alone.

“Suits me. Joyce is still at the Two Whales. We can head over there and catch up.” Chloe’s voice is light, but her eyes are hard when she meets Max’s. Max takes a deep breath and nods.

“Sure. We can do that. Your mom’s food was better than anything in Seattle.”

Chloe returns her smile. That’s a good sign. That she’s even alive is a miracle, one Max doesn’t plan to squander.

“Maxine Caulfield? Chloe Price? I’d like to ask you a few questions.” Max walks over to the officer with Chloe. Time travel won’t fly with the cops, and that could be a problem. She’ll have to make something up and hope it doesn’t conflict with whatever Chloe remembers. Max rolls her shoulders and takes a deep breath as the officer outlines the scene. She’s a time traveller. She can do this one little thing.

~

The officer chalks Chloe’s constant backtracking up to the confused rambling of a traumatised teen. It isn’t even far off the mark. Chloe keeps her arms folded the whole time, fingers wrapped around her biceps. She’s still hyperaware of her hands, of everything she grabs, of the way Max watches her, contrite and delighted at once. But this, this is not something you share, not even with your long-lost best friend. Not unless something forces her to.

Any other time, she’d be furious. With Max, with Nathan, with Blackwell. But she can undo time and she undid Max dying. She will be furious, she thinks, but not until tomorrow. For now she slings her arm around Max’s shoulders and tugs her over to her pick-up.

“This baby’s mine.”

“Very nice. It’s got that whole ‘fuck society, I do what I want’ vibe to it. Seems very you.” Seems. Huh. Chloe can’t even imagine being her fourteen-year-old self anymore. She wonders how much Max has changed through the years. She thinks she wants to find out.

“You ready for the best burgers in Arcadia Bay?”

“I was born ready. Let’s ride.”

**Author's Note:**

> Edit: Had been considering expanding on this. I love this story idea and it will forever be in my heart, but turning it into my multi-chap dream is way beyond me, rip


End file.
